January 30, 2016

With just a 3 man crew today, we still managed to get quite a bit done. The main goal of the day was to get the 4 ex-CN Fairmont A4d Gangcars unloaded from the 3rd boxcar, where they’ve been stored for more than 10yrs. The boxcar had to be moved into position for unloading, so the GE was fired up for the job. Having a working locomotive is an incredible asset to the Museum.

The GE smokes under the exhaust hood, charging its air, ready to move the boxcar forward.

Unloading the first car from the boxcar.

The cars can’t just be taken out the door due to their size, so they have to be moved into a position to come out the door on an angle, which can still be a bit tight. Of the 4 cars, one of them will be cosmetically restored and be sent to the Northern Ontario Railway Museum in Capreol for display, one will remain with us and be returned to operation, while the other 2 are more or less parts cars. One may be converted to a rider car of sorts to allow short rides on the Museum track.

CN 187-49 sits outside for the first time in over 10yrs. This car will be restored by the Museum.

CN 186-70 is the last car out of the boxcar.

The work took about 3hrs to complete, and all 4 cars saw daylight before being put back into the shop. CN 186-70 will be the car for Capreol. The NRM has had these cars for about 13yrs, so it’s good to finally have them out of the boxcar.

CN 186-70 sits outside for a picture

All 4 cars are together inside the shop awaiting movement to secure storage and eventual restoration.

Before and after the cars were unloaded, Wayne was working on stripping paint off the walkway railing. The shop was fairly mild, above zero, and he also got a coat of primer on the railing. Wayne has done a lot of painting around the shop, and it’s really helped to bring the place back to life. The new refurbished headlight (a locomotive ditch light) was test fit to the front of the Hobby Shop trolley, and looks pretty good. It should work out quite well for display.

The empty boxcar, ready for cleaning and conversion to a display/store car

Wayne cleaning the railing for painting

The trolley has a new light. (used the flashlight on a cell phone to light it up for the pic)

The Niagara Railway Museum would like to extend its thanks to Ted Lucas and his staff at Lucas Lift Truck in Thorold South. Ted has helped us many times, and even provided the forklift when we loaded these cars into the boxcar over 10yrs ago. The job couldn’t have been done without this forklift, and we appreciate all the help Ted has given us over the years.

With one month down now in 2016, progress continues at the shop. Some new displays are being worked on, and there will be even more to see this year.

September 7, 2005

In a recent donation by Bob & Rick Collier, the Museum gained 4 ex-CNR Fairmont A series gang cars. The cars are now at the museum site, and it is hoped to build 2 good cars out of the 4, with the other 2 being parts cars, and eventually passenger trailers for rides.

We would also like to thank Peninsula Towing & Recovery of Niagara Falls, for moving these cars from Strathroy to the site.